Chapter 3- Welcome to Recovery
Everyone has a list of things they don't want to awaken to and vomiting is almost a given to be at the top of said list. Give anyone the sound of thunder, a chainsaw, or crying over the gut wrenching sound of digested contents coming back up the path they descended. Unfortunately for Will, that's exactly what he awoke to. His once quiet, happily dreaming self was stirred by dry heaving and someone coaxing another person. His eyes went from snapped shut to wide awake. The body took a few seconds to kick into motion, but soon he was standing on the right side of Jay's bed, watching his brother's first moments of consciousness include puke and moaning. Trudy was already doing the task of comforting and communicating and glanced over at Will while she spoke.
"Just let it all out. I know it's gross, but think of the alternative. You're fine, just let the body do its' thing." Jay was doubled over hovering above a pink bucket, eyes wide with horror and disgust. The rest of him appeared to still be under the firm control of whatever powerful drugs he was on. His movements were sluggish and slightly uncoordinated. His twitches and facial expressions were numb and void of personality thanks to the narcotics, antibiotics, and whatever else he was on. When the episode finally ceased, he slowly looked up, scanning the room in an effort to piece the last hours together. He remembered laying on the parking lot ground but wasn't sure how he got from that moment to this one, and was also curious as to why everything on one side of his face was stiff, painful, and felt to be many times larger than normal. He didn't protest when Will and Trudy helped clean his face and body off from the puking incident nor did he really hear them asking him questions. All he knew was that he and everything around him was floating and he felt to be an immobile version of himself. What a fun set of circumstances to wake up to.
"Jay, can you hear me?!" Will got zoned out blinks, noticing the left eye's red, somewhat swollen appearance.
"Hey, Jay I know you don't feel well but give us something." They gave it a couple more seconds before jostling his shoulder, which made him jump and look towards his right.
"He's really drugged up," Trudy commented. Will smirked before moving on. Jay was in the process of reaching up to touch his face when Will gently pulled the hands down, finally getting Jay to make direct eye contact with him.
"You can't do that, Jay. You just had a really long surgery to repair stuff up there and you can't touch it. Also, you can't talk right now because you have a broken jaw and its' wired shut. You can use this whiteboard and marker to talk, ok?! It'll be weird for awhile, but you'll get the hang of it." Jay just nodded in a daze, clearly not grasping what was being told to him. This wasn't going to the only time Will told him to not do something. The nurse had arrived by now and began the process of evaluating the nerve damage and reflexes. She used a needle to test leg and arm movements with everything appearing as normal. She then waved her finger in Jay's face and things were relatively ok, aside from the slower movement from his left eye. She informed Will and Trudy that was normal at this point of the recovery. The eye received a lot of trauma and was quite bruised and swollen. Over the next couple of weeks, things would improve as the bruising and swelling went down. Jay's vision was also blurry on the left side but would correct itself over time. Then she moved to touching the damaged side of his face, which is where things got interesting. The right side had full sensation yet the left had nothing. She used a needle to poke various parts on the left side of the face and got nothing. However, the muscular movements were intact, a very promising sign that things weren't permanently damaged. It was a weird sight. Even in his drugged stupor, Jay got uneasy about that. You could see the tears forming but he fought them off, realizing it was silly to fret over something that could've easily killed him. She informed the group that the numbness was purely from the trauma of the shooting and the repairing of the facial bones. Nerves were bound to be injured and needed time to reconnect with their synapses. While there isn't a set time at when those sensations return, they would at some point. The report seemed to relieve Jay's worry because he was soon laying back against the pillows and fighting sleep. He was awarded another round of pain meds and Zoloft to help combat the nausea. Will waited till Jay fell back to sleep before speaking with Trudy.
"When did he wake up," Will quietly spoke? She watched Jay twitch his right eyebrow before responding.
"It was a two, three minutes before you got up. I came back from the cafeteria and found him awake and in the middle of pulling the tube out of his nose. I told him to stop but it was like he didn't hear me. As soon as he pulled it free, he began gagging and I threw the bucket under him. You know the rest." Will smirked, elated to hear the essence of Jay was alive and kicking in the broken body next to him. Trudy picked up a pair of wires cutters and held them for Will to see.
"The nurse came in when you were asleep and left these. What are they for?"
"They're wires cutters in case of an emergency that needs him to open his mouth. He has to keep them with him at all times." Trudy nodded as she replaced them on their spot on the food tray. They were both silent for awhile, each sitting next to a side of Jay's bed, listening to the soft sounds of him inhaling through his nose and exhaling through his mouth. He'd occasionally move a leg or arm and they'd ready themselves for the next event, breathing a sigh of relief when nothing happened. Will noticed the hue of the light outside the window was a shade or two lighter than pitch black, silently celebrating that Jay had made it through the night alive.
"Hey, the sun is coming up. He made.." Will trailed off as he glanced over at Platt passed out in her chair, mouth wide open. Her wall had finally come up and he was glad to see she was human after all. Will found a blanket in the closet and carefully draped it over her before slowly slinking back to his own makeshift bed. As he dozed off, he found himself smiling for the first time in awhile. This quiet, tiny moment was one he'd forever cherish. It was a snapshot of friendship, love, support, and perseverance and how light will always find a way through the darkness.
…
It was late at night when the team reunited with their fallen teammate. Will had texted them early in the morning regarding his consciousness and the bouts of nausea he was experiencing. They all wanted to see him, but figured he wasn't up for that at the time. What Will left out were the details behind the long morning and afternoon. The sun totally rising was not witnessed by the patient and caregivers in that ICU room because they were too consumed with the growing fear that Jay would eventually vomit his whole stomach up. It appeared he swallowed every pint of blood in his system because the first three times, that's all came up. The episodes would occur every hour to sporadically over several minutes. There was a time in the early afternoon that the missing tooth finally made its' return to the world and made Jay choke, creating an emergency reason to cut the wiring on his jaw, giving him the airway to cough up the choking hazard. He was told he could open his mouth halfway but not speak. Obviously, he didn't follow those instructions. As the nurse carried away the latest collection of contents, Jay used the time to say hello to Trudy and Will, ask where everyone else was, and how soon before he could leave. It took a few sentences for him to discover why he was instructed to not talk. The act of moving the stiff, sensitive, precious bones in his face made for some of the worst pain he'd ever experienced. Perhaps it was the drugs or the draining day, but he cried, like tears pouring down his face, as he listened to his viewing party speak, earning him stronger dosages of pain meds and a brief anesthetic so that everything could be put back into place. When he awoke, Will was smirking at him, commenting on how Jay was the picture of health and happiness. Jay responded with a groan before shifting in bed and relaxing into a deep sleep. It was around five thirty when clear liquids finally came up, a huge victory for Jay. Now with the damaging fluids out of the digestive tract, the super strong, out-of-body experience, calming drug called phenergan was put to good use, finally giving Jay some much needed relief and rest. Granted, he was in a new league of loopy and dazed, but at least his stomach could retain whatever was left in it.
It was as Jay drifted off to sleep that Will texted the team, giving them the go ahead to stop by for a quick visit. He knew Jay wouldn't go much longer without wanting to see them and plus, they certainly had questions pertaining to the case. Jay was beginning to surface around nine at night so Trudy volunteered to gather the group while Will helped Jay wake up. Will's phone lit up with messages as Jay was dreamily looking around the room.
"Hey, they're downstairs at the ED entrance," Will quietly announced. Trudy didn't hesitate to spring up from her chair.
"How long do you need?" Will looked over at an exhausted Jay.
"Um, like fifteen, twenty minutes. He needs to gargle with the saline solution and he'll probably want to get up." A nod from the loopy patient confirmed Will's assumption, making them both smirk. Trudy slid the glass door closed as Jay slowly pulled the sheets away, alerting Will that he was ready to move. Will helped Jay into a sitting position before disconnecting IVs and monitor leads. Jay paused on the tube snaking out from his midsection and pointed, giving Will a puzzled look.
"It's a feeding tube. Don't pull on it. It's just to help bulk you up with calories before you leave and can't really eat." Satisfied with the explanation, Jay nodded before scooting his feet onto the floor. Communication between Jay and the world became a grand game of charades. You were winning if you got his messages via facial expressions or grunts and moans. Hand movements were awarded a small amount of frustration with the whiteboard and marker used for last resorts, which made both parties upset with each other. It took a couple of rounds of reaching the board and marker, but Will and Jay were soon on the same page, making conversations one-sided but seamless works of art. Trudy was still catching up. Advantage, sibling bonds. As his socked feet touched the ground for the first time in over twenty-four hours, Jay felt his legs go weak for a brief moment, Will right there to steady him.
"Whoa, hold on. Take it easy. You've been through a lot in a short amount of time." Jay rolled his eyes as his legs remembered their strength. It was a slow, step-by-step shuffle towards the bathroom, but they made it without any incident. When Will opened the door, Jay's face immediately went to the floor, Will picking up on Jay's desire to not make eye contact with the mirror.
"It's ok. Whenever you're ready." Jay nodded before sitting on the makeshift chair in the shower, allowing Will to help him change from one hospital attire to another. He kept pointing to his face during the changing task and Will was very much lost.
"What?! Does it hurt?" Jay shook his head, pointing in the direction of the hospital room door before turning the finger back towards his face.
"Oh my word, I'm so lost." He went to get the white board and thrusted it into Jay's hands, receiving an 'I don't want to freak them out,' message back.
"What? Don't worry about it. They already know what happened and it's fine." Jay was emotionless as Will brushed his hair and carefully rubbed a damp washcloth over the untouched side of his face. Then came the saline solution gargling.
"Ok, you have incisions on the left side of your cheek up and down against the gums and you have to keep them clean. This is a syringe of warm salt water and you have to hold it in your mouth for a couple of seconds. I know it tastes gross and it'll probably sting a little, but it's this or an infection." Jay sighed before allowing Will to put the syringe of solution into his mouth. Stinging was such an understatement, but Jay didn't show his great dislike for the whole thing. Thirty seconds later, he was leaning over the toilet letting the nasty liquid spill out of his mouth. Jay had just returned to bed when the horde of smiling people were standing on the other side of the glass door. Let the reunion commence.
On the way up, Trudy filled everyone in on the do's and dont's with Jay. She instructed to keep questions to yes or no answers or short things he could write down. She also reminded them that Jay would probably hate to be viewed or treated differently and to just act as normal as possible. Obviously, the last time he saw everyone was before the shooting took place, but he was still the same person, just a little loopy. She went into detail about the steri-strips under and to the immediate outside of his left eye protecting the incision sites of the cheekbone repair. She also told them about the large gauze pad hiding the point of impact with the bullet. The redness, swelling, and bruising were all laid out to forewarn them that things were temporarily making him seem and act different. And now, as they filed into the room and got their first in-person glimpse of him, they were appreciative of her thorough details. He looked so different, changed from the mere twenty-four hours they were apart. The person in the bed was almost impersonating, not embodying the Jay Halstead they knew. This person was super calm and hazed over, the drugs doing a number on his demeanor and movements. For a split second, they all froze, not knowing what to say or do next. Jay was holding a gel ice pack to his face as they entered and made he eye contact with each person before making the first move. It became apparent he was the one that had to put his visitors at ease.
"Is there something on my face," he wrote on the whiteboard, earning some half laughs and smirks. Their whole bodies instantly relaxed and everyone fell into their normal thing. Any fear or uneasiness instantly disappeared. It really was the same old Jay under everything.
"You look good, Jay. How are you feeling? How's the pain?" Jay shook his hand while scrunching up his face.
"So, are you up for a couple of questions?" Jay nodded before putting the gel pack down, pointing to the case file in Hailey's hand. She glanced down at its' contents before handing it off to Jay. He combed through the picture and reports slowly, exhaling with each page turn.
"Did you see the cartridge when you opened the door?" Jay paused for a moment before shaking his head, grabbing the whiteboard and marker and began scribbling.
"Any leads," he inquired?
"Not yet. We've gone through your records and looked into known people who have made threats and all are either in jail or dead or out of reach from doing something like this. Whoever it is is really skilled and wanted to make it personal, and terrifying as well," Voight replied. Jay nodded before holding up the freeze frame of the perp leaping over the bar's fence.
"We haven't found any footage other than what the bar gave us. The guy vanished after that point," Hailey filled in. They were all silent for a moment, Jay using the time to begin dozing off.
"Do you have any idea who might've had the means and motive to do something like this," Adam inquired. Jay snapped his head back into reality, looking aimlessly at something before shaking his head. Honestly, with all the drugs in his system, it was likely he couldn't recall getting out of bed a few minutes ago. It was at this time that the nurse came in and alerted everyone that visitation was over for the day. They waved their goodbyes as Jay's eyelids quickly drooped closed. He might've gotten a quick wave in before completely passing out for awhile. It was after the group left that Trudy began to gather her things.
"I'll come back later but I need to relieve the desk sergeant currently on duty for a bit. Let me know if anything changes." Will nodded as he got up to let her out, the two of them stood at the doorway, watching Jay deeply sleep.
"Thanks for everything, Trudy. We both really appreciate it." She simply nodded before heading for the elevator. Will flung himself on the reclining chair and pulled a blanket over himself, falling asleep to the soothing sounds of Jay's mouth snores.
…
"You two, hold up a second." Kim and Hailey nearly jumped out of their skin before turning around and facing Platt.
"How did you get…"
"I'm omnipresent. I need you two to go over to Jay's place and pack a bag for him. Will gave me the key, try and not snoop around the place." While they originally had plans to track down a lead, they knew their intentions were second to Platt's requests/demands. They figured Voight was already alerted of the assignment change and willingly took the apartment key.
"Anything specific we should bring? When is he being discharged?"
"Docs said it'll be another couple of days so plan for at least that long. Maybe a hat and sunglasses for when he leaves and comfortable clothing but then again, I'm not a member of Intelligence. Figure it out." She always had a way of pressing right to the max of one's patience before adding a twinge of sarcasm to her points. The two of them simply nodded before heading out with their new assignment, both boggled by the brashness of Trudy Platt.
It was a quiet ride from the district to the apartment. The two of them didn't speak much along the way. It was strange going to someone's place knowing they weren't there. It had a similar feeling of going undercover. It almost felt like they were breaking in but had gotten the go-ahead to do so. It wasn't the first time either of them had visited Jay's place, but given the current circumstance, it felt awkward pulling up outside and walking into the building. They had pressed the elevator button when the landlord recognized them and flagged them down, asking where Jay was and if he was ok. They gave a brief, lacking in great detail, story of what happened over a day ago and were rewarded with a puzzled expression.
"That's awful, but also odd."
"What do you mean," Kim questioned?
"A guy came in early this morning and asked me to unlock Jay's place. He said Jay knew he was coming and forgot to give him a key and told me to let him in. I told him I never got anything from Jay and he assured me that his story was true. He was convincing and so I let him in and he left half an hour later." Hailey's eyes got wide before getting on the phone with Voight.
"Was this common for Jay to allow people in when he wasn't here?"
"He's done it a couple of times, but not recently." Hailey hung the phone up before returning to the conversation.
"They're on their way over. Can you describe this person?"
"Um, white, average height, athletic build, screamed military. Keep calling me sir and was very composed, robotic almost. What's going on?"
"Just covering our bases. Thank you for your help." Another tenant was standing at the desk by now, asking for assistance. They promised to keep the landlord updated before heading up the stairs to Jay's place. As the entered the floor, everything shifted. Their senses heightened and their movements became slow, methodical. It was that sixth sense kicking in, telling them something wasn't right. The hallway was clear and the whole place was silent. Hailey slipped the key in the lock and was about to turn it when Kim grabbed her hand.
"Wait, something's wrong." The both stood still for a moment, straining to hear, see, just find something. It was when they pressed their ear to the door that their suspicions proved correct. It was faint. It was consistent. It was something counting down to zero.
"Don't key your radio. Don't make a phone call." In an instant, Hailey and Kim found themselves back in that worst case scenario situation.
We love a good cliff hanger. Did anyone pick up on the clue pertaining to the mystery attacker? Thank you for reading!